Abstract: There seems to be an obvious puzzle about the supposedly meritocratic systems governing appointments to senior positions in many areas of public life: if merit is the sole cause of achievement, why is it that the preponderance of talent and hard work is to be found among a small class of white males? Faced with such a puzzle, do we continue to believe in the system of meritocracy or do we conversely find an element of laughable exaggeration in meritocratic claims? I will argue here that some cheering, satirical and system-undermining laughter is much called for in view of the depressing circumstances in which women so often continue to find themselves today, and against the backdrop of the common assumption that gender equality has already been achieved.